anima is the string quartet that usually play with them. they did their australian tour as well as the recent EU tour without them, but with the brass section. on this north american tour, neither will be there

actually i wore earplugs the first two times i saw them and i've also seen them without. the 2003 tour really wasn't nearly as loud and i haven't worn earplugs to a mogwai show since and it hasn't bothered me... other than two particular shows -- but that was related to the size of the venue and where i ended up standing that i ended up getting blasted with more noise than i typically do.